China Should Allow Reporters Free Movement In Xinjiang

The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China, while encouraged that journalists were allowed to report from Urumqi, is alarmed at the growing number of reporters who have been detained while trying to do their jobs.

Foreign reporters have been asked to leave the city of Kashgar, and in some cases have been escorted to the airport. Photographs have also been deleted from cameras. At least four reporters were detained for hours in Urumqi, a worrying trend.

Reporters in those cities and other parts of Xinjiang should be allowed to do their work according to international norms.

“We strongly encourage local officials in Xinjiang to allow the media to report and move about the area without hindrance,” said FCCC president Scott McDonald.